QI am looking to buy a Mies Van De Rohe replica Barcelona chair and stool which is really good quality without spending a fortune. Is there a company you could recommend to me please?
Debbie Brown, West Midlands
A Yes I can. Visit a company called Classic Furniture 4 U at www.classicfurniture4u.com they have a great selection of replica iconic design pieces at extremely competitive prices. Their Barcelona chair and stool is available for just
£399 (additional surcharges of £45 up to £120 for supreme grade leather options). It has a polished stainless steel frame, uses screws and not rivets, topped off with a five-year guarantee and a no quibble returns policy! They have some ‘studio’ showrooms away from the main high streets in London and are opening studios in Manchester and Leeds soon.
So if you want to feel the quality for yourself, it’s certainly worth having a good look at their selection of chairs, coffee tables and occasional furniture as you’ll make quite a saving against some of the retail offers around. I’m going to be purchasing a white Barcelona chair from them myself in the next couple of weeks.
QWe have been refurbishing a house (arts and crafts style with oak windows and doors) and are now in the final stages. We want to lay carpet on the landing and all upstairs rooms, keeping the stairs exposed oak and the floors downstairs wood. We can't decide whether to keep the carpet upstairs one colour throughout or have different in each room and landing. My preference is one colour but with a boy's room in brown and white and a girl's room in pinks and purples and ours in duck egg blue, I am struggling to get to a colour that will suit all and not show every mark of a busy house! Advice please! Julie Benson, Surrey
A You don’t need to keep it all exactly the same shade. If you stick with neutrals and vary the shade a bit to tailor it to each room scheme, it should still keep that feeling of space and continuity as the colour changes will be subtle. Try Moorland Heather Twist carpet available through John Lewis, which features subtle flecks of other colours, mixed with the neutrals (£29/m – 100% wool). Try looking at Moorland Fawn for your master bedroom and for your son’s room and landing, and Springwood for your daughter’s room.
If you want to go to a higher grade carpet try Dartmoor and Super Dartmoor Heather plain range in Cornish Cream (your room), Springwood for your daughter and Rubea for your sons room and perhaps the landing at £53-£59/m. If you do want to keep it consistent and have one carpet shade throughout, have a look at John Lewis’ Oban Twist range – colour Lanark Fawn at £25/m, which works across all the colour schemes you mention as long as it’s dark enough to be practical enough for your busy household!
QI am 16 years old and my bedroom is about to have a full facelift following an extension to the house, a quite large detached property built in 1958 in a mock Georgian style. The interior is decorated in a neutral style, with the odd bursts of colour brought in with cushions, vases, flowers etc. My room is about 10ftx10ft,and, this will sound quite complicated, has 1 wall taken up by a shower and sink unit, 1 wall a large window, another fitted wardrobes and has a wooden floor. There is only 1 free wall for my bed and other furniture. Could I please have some ideas on how to combine the shower and sink area with the rest of the room and some colour schemes and tiles, I like greys and browns and would prefer a quite grown up style, and ideas for the other things I have mentioned. Sorry if I’m giving you a lot to think about! I quite like the idea of a feature wall but is the room appropriate for this. Thank you. Callum Chamberlain, Warwickshire
A A great grown up (and masculine) tile that I really like is called Corten and comes in a 60cm x 60cm square and 30 x 60cm rectangular tile at around £52.80/m RRP. It’s got a very urban contemporary feel to it and is a darkish brown with a varied copper metallic finish. One idea might be to utilise the smaller tile in the shower and behind the sink in a panel and perhaps either side of some storage like an IKEA Billy Bookcase – CD tower (dark brown or white) to make a feature wall (including storage) within your bed area.
Your bed (as long as it hasn’t got a high metal frame headboard) can sit in front of the Billy unit with lighting incorporated. Try bookcase lighting such as IKEA’s Tjugofem for £4.99 or Trettioen strip lights £21/4 pack fixed within the unit. You can use additional clip on lighting for reading near your headboard/pillow area – IKEA’s Dinge clamp spot light for £1.99 is a real bargain. Tiles with a metallic sheen work really well as feature walls and make a dramatic statement. Work the urban theme through your ceiling lighting or table lamps in stainless steel or chrome fittings with halogen lighting. B&Q offer a ceiling spot track selection called Tornado with blue LED lights in the spot plate, which could look really good with these coppery tiles.
I would use a white on your walls to keep the room light, tie in with your basin and shower and contrast the tiling. Try John Lewis for neat roman blinds for your window – their Brompton roller blind in Granite £33-£65 or a metal Venetian in silver £15-£39 would look neat and stylish. I’d keep bedding in white with Dark grey or blue pillows cases. I hope this has given you a few ideas to be going along with. I hope the room is just as you want it when it’s finished.
QI'm trying to find a local or national carpet supplier where I can buy Black & white carpet tiles - I'm trying to create a chequered flag effect in a room I currently designing. Sallyann Garner, Northampton
A The nearest you’re going to get in carpet is really dark grey and an off white unless you’re willing to pay a fortune as these colours are not mainstream. If you have floorboards then you can mask them off with masking tape into the relevant squares and paint them or you could consider vinyl tiles that do come in pure white and black. LSI Ovation do a range called Hammered Aluminium which comes in a 24” x 24” tile in black (5017HE) and white (5022HE) with an embossed finish. See www.lsitile.com for contact details in the UK and their full range of products. As a guideline price you’re looking at £45/metre.
QWe have an original fireplace in our 1950's house that has several badly damaged tiles. I would rather have it restored than get rid of it. Can you suggest any companies that offer this service or somewhere that we might be able to purchase replacement tiles to do the job ourselves? Rachel Sleightholm, N East
A Try visiting London Mosaic on www.londonmosaic.com and call Julian on 0208 674 6111 as they have a fireplace restoration service which provides matching of original tiles from photos or samples that you send into them. When I contacted Julian about your query he said that if his company were not able to source the particular tiles for you themselves or provide the relevant restoration work, they would be able to pass on some alternative contacts for you to try. Best of luck with your restoration project.
QThe property in question is a mid terraced house built in 1936. All wallpaper has been stripped and the skirting boards have been replaced. The doorframes have also been stripped of any paint. As I do not intend to live much longer in this property, I would like to decorate the house in a way to achieve a high resale value. My original plan was to use a dark wood primer and white textured paint on the walls. But I have been told that is wrong for preparing a house for sale, as my taste is not mainstream enough. Can you please provide some ideas on common colour schemes? Very common I found is all wooden parts in white and then shades of yellow or orange on the walls. But I am not sure about that. Name and address withheld
A If you’ve watched the Property Ladder programme on TV about property developing, you’ll remember it’s all about providing a neutral canvas for the potential vendor to be able to imagine themselves and their belongings fitting into. People generally find it quite hard to visualise this successfully if there are elements that are too strong for them to see past. These obstacles can be very bold colour schemes or extreme/individual style statements.
Keep kitchens simple and in styles that appeal to the broadest market (i.e. shaker that is fairly timeless) and don’t use brightly coloured tiles in bathrooms, stick to neutrals with a white suite. Colour can always be added by using towels, accessories etc. when you get to ‘dress’ your property. For now stick with white eggshell or satinwood windowsills, door frames, doors and skirting boards. If the doors have all been dipped to get them back to the bare wood and are in good order then you can leave these as long as they look fairly consistent in colour/repair throughout the property.
For wall colours in emulsion go to the Dulux range of neutrals and pick a couple that you like which are along the lines of a cream like ‘Southern Stone’ and a beige like ‘Vineyard Earth’ This will look clean and fresh and won’t put anyone off. If you want further advice then talk to Estate Agents in your area and look at the property papers that show well-presented properties for sale. I suspect in the main part, they’ll be following this type of scheme. You’ll get a good idea of how to ‘dress your property for sale’ from these property papers and see what sort of competition you’ll have to give you an idea of what to aim for as a finished standard when you’re ready to sell.
QLooking for a bright white bathroom floor tile with some sparkly bits of silver or gold - fed up looking on the net at the most obvious suppliers, any suggestions? Audrey Wilson, Cheshire
A The one that I had in my source files for this type of tile is a company called Simmy Ceramics (Tel: 0208 450 1140). Go to their website on www.simmyceramics.com to view the range under ‘Bathroom tiles/Modern’. Their ‘Diamond’ series has tiny pieces of mirror reflecting from every angle creating the illusion of shimmering stars. They have a white in a tile size of 30 x 30cm but costs £135/sq m so it’s got to be something you’ll really love. Contact them to see if they can get you a sample as you’re not really ‘popping in’ distance to their showroom in London.
QMy wife and I have just bought a home. It's a new build in the country and will be finished hopefully in just over a week. My question is: Do we have to pay stamp duty on it? Name and address withheld
A Stamp duty is payable on new and ‘used’ properties, so long as the purchase price is above £120,000. The rates are: 0% up to £120,000 £120,001 to £250,000 – 1% on the whole amount £250,001 to £500,000 - 3% on the whole amount £500,000 upward - 4% on the whole amount (no upper limit) I queried if there were any different rules relating to ‘New Builds’ with my solicitor at Wentworth Law in Berkshire (www.wentworthlaw.co.uk) and her answer was as follows:
“The only exceptions are properties that qualify for 'Disadvantaged Area Relief' and you can look at the Stamp Office web site for details of the areas covered. I imagine that the developers would have pointed that out to the buyers, and the solicitor acting should certainly have gone through it with them in advance”.
My advice would be, ensure you’re fully up to speed with all the financials by giving your solicitor a call a.s.a.p so you’re aware of all the costs relating to your new purchase.
QWe have spent the last 3 years building our home. It was an ugly old bungalow and we have extensively remodelled it, adding another four more rooms and a conservatory. It’s all in a very colonial style. I have just run out of inspiration for the lounge area. It has large doors leading to the conservatory and windows each side of the fireplace over looking fields, leaving a blank cream wall. My husband is dead against any kind of unit or shelving and it’s so large, a piece of artwork would cost a fortune. Have you any Idea what we could do. Are mirrors Passé? The room is 25 foot square, with a natural coloured carpet and cream walls. I can provide photos if needed. Inspiration please! Jo Haill, West Sussex
A Here are a few ideas to discuss with your husband. It might be nice to put in some lighting at the bottom of the wall about 50cm up which would illuminate some art or wall sculpture so that it’s a real feature wall. Pottery, glassware or sculptures placed on top of dark wood plinths also work well with this lighting or with directed spotlights. See www.dwell.co.uk for cube up down wall lighters for £29.95 each. A wall hanging using material of your choice on a gorgeous pole might also work well adding pattern and texture to your other elements within the room.
Oka Direct (www.okadirect.com) have a needlepoint carpet in golds and greens which works really well as a wall hanging for £1,450. The Pier have some very inexpensive wall hangings and wall art including a Jinsha door panel (£80) which might look great as a pair with a plain plinth and vase of flowers in the middle. Another option is to combine an unusual consol table, with a mirror centrally on the wall. Either side of this you could hang woven wooden blinds against the cream wall as a textured backdrop and add in a sculptural floor lamp in front of it.
For the consol try www.robertway.com as they have an usual mahogany and bamboo version called Cendami for £485, try www.simpsonsmirrors.com for fabulous mirrors in a hole host of materials, including real and faux skins and woods which can be purchased in standard and bespoke sizes. I love their metallic hair on hide mirror, which you need to see as a sample as it doesn’t replicate well in their brochure.
For the blinds try www.johnlewis.com for their Jute or Cane roman blinds. For the floor lamps to go on their own or in front of the wooden blinds try Lidi Rush lamp £49 from The Pier (www.thepier.co.uk). I hope some of these ideas give you a starting point for your feature wall.
QI want to get new wooden or laminate flooring in my house. My dining room furniture is a chocolate Brown wood and the Sofa is Chocolate Leather. Do I have to go for a dark floor or lighter floor than the Furniture?
A There are no rules on this one as it’s your choice. If you want to make the room feel larger then I’d choose a lighter wood floor which will contrast with your dark leather and dining furniture like an ash, oak or maple. If you want drama then you could go dark with perhaps a gorgeous walnut, but you’d need to balance it out with very pale wall colours & decoration. You would need to ensure the room is well lit and if you want to add a little colour, then bring in a brighter accent colour like pale green, or eau de nil (pale greeny/blue). If you prefer hot colours to cool then add hot oranges or purples. Have a look in a few furniture show rooms nearby or look through some home-style magazines to see how they combine flooring with dark furniture to make sure that you’re comfortable with your decision prior to making the final purchase.
QWe have recently bought a brand new built 4 bedroom detached house and are having a hard time coordinating different types of floorings. If we were to use carpets in the living room etc, with ceramic tiles in the kitchen and utility, then would polished marble tiles look out of place in the hallway? And if all 2 types of floorings are of different colours would that look mismatched? Name and address withheld
A I think it’s good to mix hard and soft floorings and polished and matt surfaces as it creates a different feel to each room and reflects the light in different ways. However, I would consider keeping the flooring colours similar enough to create a feeling of flowing from one room to the other. If your carpets are creamy/beige and your marble is pale and neutral then it will flow easily and feel calming. The kitchen/utility area, if very large, could probably cope with having a different colour spectrum from the hall, but look at the other elements in the room and decide if you think it will break up the house too much if you go for a real contrast in this tile. Try to imagine all of the elements within the rooms rather than just the floor on it’s own as you can tie a dark tile in with a few pieces of dark furniture in a room nearby for example if it’s seen from the kitchen. Get some samples and lay them near each other whilst bearing in mind wall colours and potential furniture colours & choices to see how they work all together.
Although Rachel's diary is often full, if you have any specific interior design projects that you would like to have quoted, please feel free to call her at her Windsor studio on 01753 831838 and she will be happy to discuss the opportunity further.
